Scrutinizing Santorelli

It’s easy to look at Mike Santorelli’s ice time over the last two games – 5:19 on Nov. 25 and 5:57 on Saturday – and say that he’s not getting enough time to produce.

But it’s just as easy to make the argument that the reason for Santorelli’s lack of ice time in those games is because he wasn’t producing when given more of an opportunity.

Since Santorelli was recalled on Oct. 28, it’s pretty easy to break down his stay here into three different stretches: During his first six games, he played between 12 and 17 minutes every contest. The result? One goal, one assist and a plus-two rating. During his next six games, he played between eight and 12 minutes every contest. The result? Zero goals, zero assists and a minus-two rating. And then there are the last two games, in which he played less than six minutes. Not surprisingly, he had no points. He was also a minus-one.

Had Santorelli put up any kind of numbers when he was getting a decent amount of ice time, I have no doubt he would have seen more of the ice than he has in the last two games.

Also, if the Preds were struggling, I’m sure Santorelli would get more time to work out his difficulties. But the fact is that the team is winning, so there’s no immediate need to make sure he’s getting more of an opportunity.

Right now, Santorelli’s biggest asset is his prowess in the shootout, where he’s three-for-three and has helped the Preds to three victories.